New Orleans interim head coach Aaron Kromer watched his team struggle with penalties in Sunday's season-opening 40-32 loss to Washington.

NEW ORLEANS - Sunday was to be glorious in the Big Easy. After months of scandal, finally ? finally, the Black and Gold and its faithful could focus on touchdowns, chanting "Who Dat!" and the road to the Super Bowl that just happens to end right here inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Instead, the first day of the 2012 season unearthed a boatload of questions, concerns and, even rarer, a loss on home turf.

While the Washington Redskins and rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III came out firing on all cylinders, the Saints seemed lost - perhaps the funk of the controversy, the absence of a head coach and the effects of shifting duties within the team became tangible.

Sunday's 40-33 loss to the Washington Redskins marked the Saints' first home defeat in two seasons. New Orleans starters hadn't lost at Superdome since Oct. 24, 2010 (Cleveland). The Saints did lose the 2010 regular-season finale to Tampa Bay, but rested many starters late in the game because the team was locked into the No. 5 playoff seed.

"It's frustrating because our fans deserve more than what we gave them today," Saints interim interim head coach Aaron Kromer said Sunday.

It would have been impossible to believe the Saints could execute normally, at least initially, given the forced changes throughout the organization. The table for adversity was set when the NFL's shocking penalties were announced in March.

The bounty scandal eliminated the masterminds of this incredibly successful era of Saints football. Head coach Sean Payton is gone for the season while general manager Mickey Loomis will miss the first eight games. Joe Vitt, the man tabbed to fill in for Payton, will miss six games due to suspension, so this is technically Kromer's team. And he was hired to be the team's offensive line/running game coach.

Although it's simply not a viable scenario for success, the Saints didn't offer excuses.

"(The offseason) didn't have an effect at all," quarterback Drew Brees said. "It's just the NFL. You better bring it every week. Not to say that we would ever take anybody lightly, especially (Washington), but they just came in and played better than we did. It's hard to believe we even had a chance at the end."

There is no disputing that. The Saints committed 12 penalties for 107 yards. In response to nearly every "why didn't (insert problem) work," Kromer pointed to the yellow laundry that littered the field throughout the day.

"Today the difference was penalties," he said.

However, the Redskins also had 12 penalties - for 127 yards.

The Saints' most glaring infraction came with the Redskins punting while holding a 30-17 lead with 1 minute left in the third quarter. New Orleans was caught with too many men on the field on fourth-and-5 and Washington's drive was extended.

The Redskins not only added a field goal to make it 33-17, they chewed up another 5 minutes on the game clock in the process.

While Brees denied the absence of Payton made a difference, he did acknowledge the emotions of the bounty situation could have played a role in the Saints' slow start.

"At times, when the emotions are so high, you can have a lapse," Brees said.Jonathan Vilma, one of two Saints to have their bounty punishment put on hold just two days before the season opener, led the raucous New Orleans contingent in the Who Dat chant prior to the game.

Brees said, just like in last year's Houston game when Steve Gleason led the chant, it took the Saints a while to get moving.

Still, the Saints never truly recovered Sunday.

"On third down we were 2 of 11," Brees said. "That is probably as bad as we've ever been. But that goes back to being in third-and-longs and the penalties.

As the face of the franchise peeked at his personal statistics, he because visibly disgusted.

"The inefficient in passing game; less than 50 percent ? hmmm ? that makes you angry," said Brees, who finished 24-of-52 for 339 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Last season, Brees set an NFL record for completion percentage (71.2).

"It's disappointing it was our home opener, and with all the emotion coming into this game," Brees said. "All the things that prevent you from winning football games, we did."

Just like it would be impossible to think the Saints would enjoy a flawless transition after a chaotic offseason, it would be logical to conclude the team will only improve from here.

The first opportunity to show the improvement will be at Carolina on Sunday in an NFC South matchup.

"We're better than that and we're going to be better than that," Brees said.

Connect with Roy Lang III on Twitter at @RoyLangIII.

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Roy Lang III: Unsurprising start for Saints

NEW ORLEANS ? Sunday was to be glorious in the Big Easy. After months of scandal, finally ? finally, the Black and Gold and its faithful could focus on touchdowns, chanting ?Who Dat!? and the road to